Railway-crossing structure.



No. 660,353. Patenfed 0st. 23, I900. w. 1:. W000.

RAILWAY CRDSSINGSTRUCTUBE (Application med m 9, 1900.

(No Model.)

IN VE N TOR WITNESSES ff/3M4 nwM-llf UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM C. WOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAILWAY-CROSSING STRUCTURE.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,353, dated October 23, 1900,

Application filed May 9, 1900. Serial No. 16.102. lllo model.)

T0 on whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. WOOD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Crossing Structures, of which the following is a specification.

In the operation of railways, particularly such as common to city streets and those known as trolley-lines, the place of intersection of crossing and of converging tracks is subject to extra wear and has necessitated the introduction at such intersections of special parts or pieces that are able to withstand such excessive wear. These wearing-pieces are of various forms, differing with the nature of the location and form of tracks where used. In practice they are made of very hard metal or have their surfaces hardened, and besides are constructed with special reference [0 capability of removal for renewal when worn out.

My invention relates to a new system wherein a new style of removable wearingpiece and adjustable securingmeans are employed. A hard-metal base or floor is also provided, giving firm and solid support for such wearing-piece, while leaving it free for removal without destroying or displacing any portion of the crossing structure.

The invention is applicable to crossings, points, mates, frogs, and all structures where two or more tracks cross or converge.

Referring to the annexed drawings, which show a railway-crossing structure illustrating' my invention, Figure 1 is a top view of the structure. Fig. 2 is a side view; Fig. 3, a similar view, partly in section, taken on line 1 1. Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken through the center of the structure, as on line i; 0. Fig. 5 is a side view, and Fig. 6 an end view, of a wearing-piece detached.

A A will indicate the main frame, constructed of sections of rails.

B is an opening or recess at the meeting of the intersecting gage-lines of the crossing rails and in which opening is inserted the wearingpiece 0. This wearing-piece is grooved in its upper surface to correspond with the crossing tracks, in this instance including a point 10, similar to those occurring in mates, frogs, and other structures, and is provided with one or more depending projections terminating in loops 5, perforated transversely, as at c. The portion e, directly adjacent to the loops, is herein called the seat,

and the part on which the seat rests and by ing the contact-surfaces has been practiced,

but is very expensive. The wearing-pieces have also been furnished with headed bolts set in a recess and secured by casting sulfur or other substances, and in some cases Babbitt metal or lead, into the space around the wearing-piece and under the same to form a bed therefor and to hold it in place; but with these methods of fastening the wearing-piece is liable to work loose and the means of tightening it are crude and unsatisfactory.

In my new system the parts are durable. The structure olfers the best facilities for maintenance in use and for removal of the wearingpieces when required and is produced at a minimum cost.

In carrying my invention into practice I employ a sand mold, as heretofore used, formed around the main frame with the wearing-pieces therein, and cast a binding-body E around the structure to bind the frame together. This mold I adapt in shape for causing the binding metal to flow directly upon or against the seat of the wearing-pieces, and thus form a solid cast-iron floor f. The mold is also shaped to cause the molten iron to flow around the depending projections, so as form the floor f and sockets d therein for the tapering portion of the said projections and leaving the loops b protruding below the floor, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The tapering sockets serve to aid in centering and imparting steadiness to the wearing-piece, while leaving it free by reason of the ordinary shrinkages in casting to be forced out or withdrawn whenever necessary to remove it.

To secure the wearing-piece firmly in place keys is are driven into the loops from opposite sides beneath the base or floor f, and to admit'the introduction of the keys the binding-body E, of cast metal, is cored out opposite to the place of the loops b, as indicated at g in Fig. 2. These openings also admit of keying up the wearing-piece in case of its working loose.

In the above-described invention the metal of the cast-iron floor being applied in a molten condition conforms with nicety to the seat of the wearing-piece, affording a well-fitted and adequate support thereto, yet leaving the wearing-piece free to be removed when and as required, while providing a convenient means of adjnstably securing and maintaining the wearing-piece in place.

I do not restrict myself to the details of form and structure when the same may be varied within the invention.

The cast-iron is preferably applied at one heat or casting; but in cases Where the hardened wearing-piece is long and liable to Warp or twist on account of the molten metal striking against it I find it advisable to pour the metal at two or more separate heats.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a railway-crossing and like structures, a main frame formed of converging rails, and having a recess at the intersection of the lines of the rails containing a special wearing-piece, a floor of cast-iron applied directly to the seat'of the wearing-piece in a molten state forming a support therefor, leaving the wearing-piece removable, and which molten metal is at the same operation cast around the main frame as a binding-body therefor, in combination with removable means of adjustably securing and maintaining the Wearing-piece in place. p

2. The wearing-piece described, provided with depending loops affording place for removable keys or other fastenings, and the seating portion made tapering in form for the purposes specified, in combination with corresponding sockets therefor in the support ing-floor.

WILLIAM G. WOOD. Witnesses:

M. F. TWEEDDALE, H. L. MERRICK. 

